Sunday Read: Siblings, survivors

“We’re like magnets”: Flora Valdez Ibarra, 30, left, and Rosie Felix, 33, live with memories of Aug. 25, 1991, the day their mother, Altagracia Felix, and her companion, Javier Contreras, were killed in Buena Park. Abandoned by relatives, the teens were soon evicted from their apartment. Leonard Ortiz, The Register

Flora Valdez Ibarra's mom couldn't be there when she walked down the aisle. But her older sister, Rosie, was there, her eyes moist while tending to Flora as maid of honor.

"It hit me when I was brushing her hair," Rosie says.

"She looked so perfect - just like our mother."

And out in the audience at the Regal Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, watching Flora exchange vows with her Prince Charming, was a homicide detective, a man she calls Pops.

"Flora always thinks about how proud her mother would have been," says Mike Schwartz, former Buena Park detective.

"She is living proof that if you make some good choices in life you can recover from just about anything."

What Flora recovered from was the killing of her mother and the man she viewed as her stepfather on Aug. 25, 1991.

Flora, at 15, became an orphan. Soon, she and Rosie, who was 18, were evicted from their apartment. Their relatives declined to take them in, saying they were old enough to care for themselves.

They had $10.62 between them.

"How far in life could you go after that tragedy and those circumstances?" asks Orange County Deputy District Attorney Larry Yellin.

"Probably not very far."

Flora, who turned 30 last month, became the first in her family to graduate from high school. She has taken college courses. She's happily married and has two small children. She hopes, one day, to teach first grade.

Rosie, who turned 33 last week, stopped going to school in 1991 to care for her little sister. But, inspired by Flora, she also earned her high school diploma.

Later, Rosie opened a successful boutique in Las Vegas, but returned to Southern California to be near Flora.

She has three sons and lives with her second husband in Woodland Hills, where she works for a medical insurance company.

The two sisters live a few miles apart. Both have become citizens of the United States. They talk to or see each other several times a week.

Both say they accomplished these things by savoring the lessons and advice from their mother, and because of the support of each other.

The journey hasn't been easy. There were suicide attempts, a stay in a mental hospital, alcohol problems and an abusive relationship.

“We’re like magnets”: Flora Valdez Ibarra, 30, left, and Rosie Felix, 33, live with memories of Aug. 25, 1991, the day their mother, Altagracia Felix, and her companion, Javier Contreras, were killed in Buena Park. Abandoned by relatives, the teens were soon evicted from their apartment. Leonard Ortiz, The Register
Gunned down: Police say the deaths of Altagracia Felix and Javier Contreras sprang from a love triangle that developed while Contreras was in jail.
Father figure: Mike Schwartz, right, now retired from the Buena Park police, at Flora Valdez Ibarra’s wedding.
Flora’s wedding: Rosie Felix, right, says her sister “looked so perfect – just like our mother.”

1 of

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.